Plant bedding system and method for plant agriculture

Abstract

The invention involves a system and method for plant agriculture. The system includes a sheet of barrier material upon which soil is placed. A drip tube is placed in the soil so that the soil can be shaped, and the sheet material is placed over the top of the soil so that the edges of the sheet overlap. A seal, which may be soil, is placed on the overlapping edges of the sheet to hold the sheet material in a closed position. The crop is planted through the sheet material, and growth occurs through the aperture created during planting.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field comprising:
 a bed trencher ( 10 ) including a frame ( 62 ) for positioning the bed trencher components such that they may be pulled by a piece of farm equipment ( 42 ), a splitter ( 44 ) secured at a front portion of the frame ( 62 ) for breaking a topsoil ( 16 ) surface and directing it to a pair of splitter blades ( 46 ), the splitter blades ( 46 ) being constructed and arranged to widen the area of the broken topsoil ( 16 ) and direct it outwardly with respect to a longitudinal centerline of the bed trencher ( 10 ), creating an elongated depression ( 12 ) as the frame ( 62 ) is moved forward by the farm equipment ( 42 ) causing the topsoil ( 16 ) to be moved out of the depression ( 12 ) and piled along both sides of the depression ( 12 ); a roll of first sheet material ( 18 ), is mounted to the frame ( 62 ) for free rotation at a position on the frame ( 62 ) that is generally rearward of a rear portion ( 56 ) of the splitter blades ( 46 ), roller guides are provided to route the sheet material ( 18 ) downwardly to the depression ( 12 ), the first roll of sheet material having suitable width to cover the depression ( 12 ), including a pair of side walls ( 14 ) such that the sheet material ( 18 ) extends outwardly beyond the distal edges of the depression ( 12 ), a first pair of resetting discs ( 60 ) are secured to the frame ( 62 ) and positioned to redistribute the topsoil displaced from forming the depression ( 12 ) back onto the first sheet ( 18 ), so that the topsoil ( 16 ) is distributed on the first sheet ( 18 ) in a preform shape,   a bed shaper ( 70 ), including a bed shaper frame ( 96 ) for positioning the bed shaper components such that they may be pulled by a piece of farm equipment ( 42 ) for passing the bed shaper over the preform shape, a form roller ( 74 ) being secured to the bed shaper frame ( 96 ) for rotation about a central axis ( 76 ) of the form roller ( 74 ) to compress the preform shape to the desired density while reshaping the preform shape to a formed soil ( 90 ) bed shape, a roll of drip tape ( 84 ) is secured to the bed shaper frame ( 96 ) for free rotation, a drip tape funnel ( 86 ) and drip tape tube ( 88 ) are secured to the bed shaper frame ( 96 ) for directing the drip tape ( 84 ) to an upper surface of the formed soil ( 90 ), a second sheet ( 28 ) is secured transversely across the bed shaper frame ( 96 ) and mounted for free rotation; guides are secured to the bed shaper frame ( 96 ) for routing the second sheet ( 28 ) downward for placement over a top surface of the formed soil ( 90 ) and the drip tape tube ( 88 ) as the bed shaper ( 70 ) is moved forward, a pair of second sheet setting rollers ( 92 ) are positioned on the frame ( 62 ) to roll over the outer portions of the second sheet ( 28 ) to position the second sheet ( 28 ) against the formed soil ( 90 ) and position a pair of outer edges of the second sheet ( 28 ) in an overlapping relationship with respect to the outer edges of the first sheet ( 18 ) to enclose the formed soil ( 90 ).   
     
     
         2 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the form roller ( 74 ) includes a pair of side rolls ( 78 ) and a central roll ( 80 ), wherein the side rolls ( 78 ) establish a height to the central roll ( 80 ), thereby establishing the height of the formed soil ( 90 ) and wherein the side rolls ( 78 ) determine the width of the formed soil ( 90 ). 
     
     
         3 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 2  wherein the central roll ( 80 ) is connected to the side rolls ( 78 ) with a transition roll ( 82 ), wherein the transition roll ( 82 ) determines the shape of the sides of the formed soil ( 90 ). 
     
     
         4 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 2  wherein the form roller ( 74 ) weight is selected to provide a predetermined compaction density to the formed soil ( 90 ). 
     
     
         5 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 2  wherein a second set of resetting discs ( 94 ) are adjustably mounted to the bed shaper frame ( 96 ) to direct topsoil ( 16 ) onto the overlapping outer edges of the first and second sheets ( 18 ), ( 28 ), respectively, to provide weight to hold the edges in the overlapping position with respect to each other. 
     
     
         6 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 2  wherein a pair of first sheet rollers ( 58 ) are positioned rearward of the splitter blades ( 46 ) and prior to the resetting discs ( 60 ) to force the first sheet ( 18 ) into the corners of the depression ( 12 ) formed by the pair of side walls ( 14 ) and a depression base surface ( 15 ). 
     
     
         7 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 6  wherein the first sheet rollers ( 58 ) include an adjustable width which allows them to be positioned to push the first sheet ( 18 ) downward and/or outward to position the first sheet ( 18 ) properly in the depression ( 12 ) as the bed trencher ( 10 ) moves forward. 
     
     
         8 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 6  wherein the bed trencher ( 10 ) and the bed shaper ( 70 ) are connected one behind the other to be pulled behind a single piece of farm equipment ( 42 ), wherein the encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) may be formed in a single pass across a field. 
     
     
         9 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the bed shaper ( 70 ) includes a pair of funnel blades ( 72 ) which are adjustable in angle and width to further direct soil to the form roller ( 74 ). 
     
     
         10 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the resetting discs ( 60 ) are adjustable in angle and tilt to allow the soil to be distributed on the first sheet ( 18 ) in a preform to create the desired final formed soil ( 90 ) for the plant bed ( 38 ). 
     
     
         11 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the bed trencher ( 10 ) includes more than one resetting disc ( 60 ) positioned on each side of the bed trencher ( 10 ) to form the preform shape closer to the formed soil ( 90 ). 
     
     
         12 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the bed shaper ( 70 ) includes a pair of funnel blades ( 72 ) which are adjustable in angle and width to further direct soil to the form roller ( 74 ). 
     
     
         13 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the splitter ( 44 ) is generally V-shaped when viewed from the top, having a forwardmost point splitter ( 48 ) which lowers the force required to break the topsoil ( 16 ). 
     
     
         14 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 13  wherein a rear portion ( 50 ) of the splitter ( 44 ) includes a pair of hinges ( 52 ) which connect the splitter ( 44 ) to a forward end ( 54 ) of the splitter blades ( 46 ) for adjusting the splitter blade to alter the width of the depression and the topsoil available to form the formed soil ( 90 ). 
     
     
         15 . The bed trencher ( 10 ) for constructing an encapsulated plant bed ( 38 ) across a field of  claim 1  wherein the farm equipment ( 42 ) is a tractor.